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66
Uninhabitable or Insanitary Dwellings.
The following is a list of dwellings that were found, during the
year, to be so insanitary that extensive structural alterations were
necessary to make them fit for human habitation. Most of the premises
were, as was the case in former years, stable dwellings:—
12½, Alexandra Mews.
and 6, Belsize Road Mews.
4, Oppidans Mews.
14, 15, and 18, Winchester Mews.
Customs and Inland Revenue Acts.
These Acts provide that the owners of premises that are let in dwellings
of a certain class may claim exemption or abatement from inhabited house
duty on producing a certificate from the Medical Officer of Health that
the dwellings afford proper sanitary accommodation for the occupants.
During the year application for certificates under these Acts were received
in respect of 96 dwellings, this number being 40 more than the number
for which applications were made in 1908.
Upon receipt of an application for a certificate a detailed sanitary
survey is made of the premises, and should any of the dwellings fail to
reach the required standard of sanitation, a list of requirements is drawn
up and sent to the owner, and the certificate is only granted when these
requirements are fulfilled. In every case the drains are required to
stand the water test, and all gas stoves must be well ventilated into the open
air by means of a properly constructed hood and shaft. The inspections
necessitated by these applications throw a good deal of work upon the staff
of the Health Department, but the improvements obtained are valuable.
The Acts afford the means whereby the Council are able to secure a standard
wholesomeness in certain dwellings that could not be obtained in any
other way.
In 1909, although 96 applications were made for the certificate of
the Medical Officer of Health, no certificate was granted, since in no case
was any attempt made to carry out the requirements upon which the
certificate is based.
Underground Rooms.
The Public Health (London) Act, 1891, contains special provisions
relating to underground rooms, an underground room being defined as